Passion Gives Form to the Inexpressible: Mohan Thomas

When photography helps you express the ineffable…

Photography has been more than a hobby for Toehold Patron, Mohan Thomas; “It’s been a way of expression,” says Mohan, who reveres it as an art.

Mohan’s journey of making pictures started in 1999, when he started to preserve special moments with a click. But this habit soon turned into a growing interest and he wanted to learn more about the technical and aesthetic aspects of photography.

On his newly-found quest for excellence, Mohan Thomas learned about the photography workshops conducted by the Toehold masters. He wasted no time and enrolled himself to the educative workshops, and this is how his bond with Toehold began to form.

Toehold Photo Tours have helped me understand what to shoot when, and how to shoot best.

He humbly confesses, “The first thing I learned was to know what a camera is and how each setting must be used and when. Toehold Photo Tours have helped me understand what kind of places one must visit for what kind of sightings. There is ample opportunity to learn what to shoot when, and how to shoot best.”

Mohan dotingly remembers his journey as a photographer and asserts that in retrospect, he has realised how guided tours can get tricky. He says that it is important to choose the right mentors and travel with experts who have a good track record of photography tours, because that way, it is possible to inspire the artist within oneself.

He has been on Photo Tours with Toehold Skippers to different destinations both in India and abroad. Capturing mammals in their natural habitats is his forte, but his immense love for wildlife and photography extends to the avian world too, which he intends to explore more, mainly to capture rare bird species.

Of all the Tours he has been on, Svalbard happens to be his favourite, and a close second is Kamchatka. In his own words: “Svalbard is a dream destination for any photographer. I have been there twice already but I plan on going there as many times as I can. Kamchatka interests me equally as the subjects are arresting and spectacular in almost any setting. These places have some eerie magical power that can cast a spell on the observer and it lingers on like a drifting echo of a memory even after he leaves the place.

“Also, there are not many restrictions imposed on explorers, so a place like Svalbard is for yourself to be beheld and see everything at your own pace. What haunts me beautifully is the fact that these places make it so hard to leave. When you are spending the last hours of the Tour, it’s almost like living a wistful epilogue. Perhaps that’s what makes me want to go there again and again.”

Mohan Thomas’s love for travel and wildlife translates into beautiful pictures, as he goes about treasuring the slices of time he manages to gather with his camera.